Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Leaving "The Purple Flyer Question" In The Past - Forever~

I don't think about what my life would be like if I didn't have diabetes, ever. And I'm really glad about that. Wondering how me or my life would be different is like wondering what it be like if I was born male instead of female. I'll never know and as far as I'm concerned, it just doesn't matter. I am me and I am pretty damn fantastic. But every once in a while, I do wonder what led to the circumstances of my actual diagnoses date. Yes, genetically speaking, there was a 50/50 chance I'd become a PWD - And I believe 100% that regardless of the how's, whys and whens, I would have been diagnosed with diabetes no matter what.But the summer before I became an official PWD, I had a pretty bad bike accident involving internal/external bleeding and bruising. I was one of those tall , second going into third graders who loved riding her bike - And I rode it everywhere. It was a purple two wheeler with streamers and a white seat and I loved it.It was nicknamed The Purple Flyer, and fly it did! Santa brought it the Christmas I was four and at first it was too big for me and had training wheels - Plus, I was still attached to my Big Wheel - But that's a different story for a different post.With seat adjustments, the purple Flyer grew with me. Soon, the training wheels were left in the driveway and eventually, my legs started to grow long, and I started to outgrow the Purple Flyer. When I'd ride it, my knees were bent awkwardly towards my chest and it became to small for comfort.This occurred during the summer I like to refer to as: "Kelly's Growth Spurt Rebellion,"which also happened to be the summer before my diabetes diagnoses. And it was also the summer I started riding my mother's orange cruiser. Now my mom, all 5 feet of her, wasn't that much taller than me. So in actuality, me riding her bike wasn't as odd as it sounded. Yes, the bike was too big for me, I'll admit it. But since I never actually sat on the bike when I rode it... plus the fact that I rode the orange cruiser like an expert - why wouldn't I ride it? Plus it was the 70's, it was all types of go with the flow back then. One night in early July, as I rode the orange cruiser around the block for the hundredth time, my wheel hit a rock and somehow I flipped up in the air and became entangled in the bike parts. I remember crying and standing up and noticing that my shorts and legs where covered in blood, like A LOT OF BLOOD - And I started to scream even louder.I ran down the block covered in blood, into my backyard, through the back door and into our kitchen. When my parents saw me they went white with fear, threw me in the car and drove me to the hospital.My oldest brother John had just come home from his lifeguard job and I remember that he sat in the backseat with me.Without going into the gore, I had internal and external bleeding and bruising and had to stay in bed for a few days. I was black and blue and all types of cut up and I looked like I'd been hit by a truck.A few weeks after that, some time in August, I started to get thirsty, and by thirsty I mean that I would drink anything and everything, including the little coffee creamers at the diner and all of the open cans of coke and tab that were sitting on our kitchen table at dinner. My new bathing suit became lose fitting and I began to tire easily. But I grew so tall and so freaking quick that summer, that my parents chalked up my loose clothing and tiredness to having grown so quickly. Like many of you, I've read the studies that say diabetes is a virus that lies dormant in your system until your system gets shocked. Did leaving the Purple Flyer behind wake my diabetes virus up? So while I never wonder what my life would have been like if I didn't have diabetes, sometimes I wonder when my diagnoses date would have been the same if I'd rode the Purple Flyer for one more summer. But then (and by then I mean just this very second) I think if I hadn't been diagnosed when I was diagnosed, I never would have had Joe Solowiejczyk as my first Diabetes Friend/Diabetes Coach - And Joe is one of the major reasons I see the diabetes glass have full. If I hadn't been diagnosed in the third grade, I never would have perfected my Rosanna Rosanna Dana talking about diabetes impersonation or made my friends and myself LOL about diabetes - So if I hadn't been diagnosed when I was, there's a chance I wouldn't be diabtesalicious. And hey, while I'm at it, maybe there's a chance that I wouldn't have found the Diabetes On-line Community - And that would be a terrible thing!So instead of wondering about my diabetes past - I'd rather pontificate about living my best diabetes future~

Ah, Rosanne Rosanna Danna...love her! You totally have to do a vlog now, you know that, right? ;)There are times that we wonder about the timing of Bean's dx, what could have triggered it, etc. The only thing that has brought me peace is know that on that day, God's calendar had "Bean is dx with T1" and that's really what it comes down to. There's a plan and a purpose and for Bean, D is a part of it.Now my job is to help her become her best d-alicious self!!

It is so crazy you posted this because this past weekend I celebrated my 19th diabetes birthday and the year before I was diagnosed, I had the chicken pox. Bad. So bad that when I was diagnosed, that was the first thing the drs asked.

Lauren's Hope

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What People Are Saying About Kelly Kunik's Diabetesalicious Humor

"I laughed so hard I puked all over my pump -Just kidding......

Kelly's intimate knowledge of living with diabetes makes her the perfect person to poke fun at all of our little eccentricities. If laughter really is the best medicine, then Kelly should be nominated for Sturgeon General."Gary Scheiner - Certified Diabetes Educator, Owner & Operator of Integrated Diabetes Services, Author of "You Can Control Diabetes" and "How to Think Like A Pancreas."Marx Brothers Fan for life, T1 for 20 years .

"Kelly Kunik performed her Diabetes Comedy Act at the Diabetes, Exercise, & Sports Association (DESA) National meeting in Colorado Springs in June of 2007. She had the room laughing all night! It was great to see the light side of Diabetes for once...."

Rick Philbin, Type 1, Board of Directors, DESA

"Kelly was very engaging with her humor and positive attitude in looking at life with Diabetes on a lighter side. Everyone in my Diabetes Support group lowered their glucose levels with laughter that evening!"

Bryony Crane, RD CDE

Virtua Diabetes and Nutrition Svs

"Dr. Kelly keeps you laughing.......Great bedside manner!"

Boston Charlie - T1 30 years

"As a Diabetes Educator, I'm always looking for new ways to help patients. Kelly Kunik offers a unique way of educating patients through laughter.There's a tremendous validation in Kelly's approach - Everybody thinks that no one once else has diabetes related issues, day & day out. Whether it getting your tubing caught on a door nob; acting out with a low blood sugar, or dealing with the same old questions. Silly or serious, Kelly's observations allow patients to feel better about themselves.When people feel good about themselves, they practice betterself management. IT'S ALL GOOD.We all had so much fun the night Kelly spoke to my Type 1 support group."